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Joe Maddon had a career Record of 781 – 729 (.522), but was 629 – 506 (.567) over the last 7 years from 2008 – 2014. He runs his offenses like the Angels used to, with a NL style built on speed and contact. He may be the best AL Skipper when it comes to utilizing players versatility and matchups. Maddon is also great at working in Rookie players. But he took his talents to Chicago, when he opted out for many more Million in the Windy City, and will be replaced by rookie skipper Kevin Cash

David Price is gone, Ben Zobrist is gone. If you added up their 2 salaries of $20 MIL and $7.5 MIL respectively, it would have pole vaulted the Rays over $100 MIL in the upcoming season Instead they were traded for younger players, and their total team cash is listed at somewhere near $80 MIL for their budget.

Leading the charge on the cash earnings is Evan Longoria. While he has had a backloaded deal for years, his pact becomes a little more expensive this year. In 2015, the longtime 3B will make $13 MIL.

Longoria, who people are lumping into conversations with Kris Bryant right now, because of the Cubs pending decision to hold out their prize prospect. inked a deal just days into his service clock, and has a 15 Year/$144.5 MIL deal he is still working through.

Dr. James Andrews – leading Tommy John surgeon is the new senior leader on this innovative and break through procedure, championed 1st over 40 years ago, and responsible for extending over 700 players careers now.

For all the talk of baseball players (pitchers mostly) that will be undergoing Tommy John Surgery, we will be keeping a running list! E-mail us at mlbreports@gmail.com if you have any names to add to our totals.

How many players are having or had TJ in history? You are about to find out:

Chris Tillman continues to assert himself as one of the emerging great arms in the American League. The 26 Year Old RHP is 26 – 12 in his last 38 game decisions with a mid 3 ERA. Not bad when you consider he and Adam Jones were brought to Maryland for former Draft Pick Erik Bedard, (who is barely hanging on to professional baseball – and was hurt or average in his Seattle days). That deal and the Tommy Hunter and Chris Davis/for Koli Uehara deals kickstarted the renaissance of this historic club. The O’s made the postseason for the 1st time in 15 years during he 2012 campaign, and now possess a massive lead in the AL East with 35 games to go. The O’s management and brass can take stock in a job well done in building this current group of ballplayers.

How All Of The Orioles Pitchers Were Acquired:

The Orioles made a swift and blunt move last off season, when they traded their 2012 and 2013 Closer Jim Johnson for Jemile Weeks.

The club took some flak in virtually discarding a 101 save man over the last few years to save some money. Johnson was awarded $10 MIL for the year, and has flamed out in Oakland and Detroit since. Those dollars are about what the team receives collectively as a unit.

The team was also lambasted for the signing/not signing of Grant Balfour, because a sketchy physical. Again, they have looked good in the transaction.

That coupled with some waiver claims (T.J. McFarland as a Rule 5 Draft Picks) and former team draft picks – converting in to late inning arms (Brian Matusz and Closer Zach Britton), and you have seen a brilliant molding of a Relief Core.

Ryan Webb was actually optioned to the Minors, despite decent numbers, while clearing a path for Andrew Miller, as part of a deal from Boston. Miller is one of the better LHP out of the pen in the last year.

Kevin Gausman represents the only starter right now that was drafted by the team originally.

Bud Norris was brought into Baltimore for a couple of former draft picks and a 2014 RD A compensation pick.

The other significant 2013 deal for the staff – was dealing a Minor Leaguer for Brad Brach.

The Ubaldo Situation

Looking at the numbers, Buck Showalter has the right idea in taking Jimenez out of the rotation.Regardless of the contract figures, Jimenez has failed to be that ace that the Orioles expected to get when he signed his 4 YR $50 MM dollar contract in the winter.

It’s time to let Jimenez take some time to figure things out, as hopefully skipping a start or two will give him time to work on his mechanics to help get him back on track.

This is also familiar territory for the Orioles, as Showalter and crew have had some good success sending guys to the bullpen.

Remember, Zach Britton and Tommy Hunter, two of the best arms in the Orioles’ bullpen this season, were starters that struggled, but once they were shifted to the bullpen they seemed to have figured it out and have been very reliable throughout the season.

For all the talk of baseball players (pitchers mostly) that will be undergoing Tommy John Surgery, we will be keeping a running list! E-mail us at mlbreports@gmail.com if you have any names to add to our totals.

Welcome to your new World Series Favorite. according to the oddsmakers. I see their rationale. The A’s have the best record in the Majors, and also the biggest lead within their Division. Oh yeah..this club has back to back West Titles, and a deep lineup in a parity league that is the AL. While I don’t endorse them as the favorite for the World Series right now (based on predicting playoffs solely), there is no doubt I ranked them #1 in power rankings

Billy Beane made some great trades to bolster his Relief Core – and rotation for the 2014 year last winter. Unfortunately 1 move may haunt in more ways than 1 in Jim Johnson.

Billy Beane just hasn’t been on the bad end of many deals in his recent days. Trading for Jim Johnson may turn out to be his worst move ever.

Originally it looked like another genius move, trading away an MiLB player in Jemile Weeks – for a guy who has back to back 50 Save seasons on his resume, but it has been a colossal nightmare for the AL Bay Area franchise.

Johnson was given a 1 YR deal worth $10 MIL. This represents about 12% of the team total payroll of just over $80 MIL for the 2014 campaign.

The dollars doled out hurts the team more than anything else. Had this man just been inept, without carrying a heavy price tag, it would have been a 4th and 40 situation (think what you do in football in that scenario.

Billy Beane made some great trades to bolster his Relief Core – and rotation for the 2014 year. Despite 3 of the slated Opening Day starters not currently with the club due to Tommy John Surgeries (Griffin and Parker) + Straily (Optioned to the Minors), added with early Bullpen woes, the team has righted the ship, and lead AL pitchers in collective ERA, (OBP and OPS against). Beane has allocated just around $34 MIL in players salary to his staff in 2014. He also made great judgement calls on departing pitcher Bartolo Colon, Brett Anderson and Grant Balfour – not duplicating key roles in the previous two seasons. Once again the “Moneyball Man” looks like he may come up roses one more year in the Division at least.

Billy Beane knows how to construct a Pitching Staff on a shoe string budget.

As the first full month of the season reaches its final week, the Orioles need to get away from the .500 baseball they have been playing in order to make a push towards the 2014 postseason.

Of course, the season is still very young, as there are about 140 games left to play.

The O’s got an early taste of the competitive AL East Division, as six of their first seven series were against division rivals, including two series verse the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox.

As we are about 1/8th through the season, I decided to grade the Orioles up to this point of the season, looking for ways for them to improve.Read the rest of this entry →

Matt Moore finished 17 – 4 with a 3.29 ERA in 2013, but was off to an even better start in the 1st half before he had some elbow soreness. Losing this LHP to TJ Surgery hurts the club, however the team was deep with Price, Archer and Cobb still manning the 1 – 3 slots in the rotation. That was, until Cobb went down with an injury himself. The squad will have to weather the storm for a few months with some organizational players that might include the players: Erik Bedard, Nate Karns or Cesar Ramos. With the teams projected #2 Starter being down for the next 12 – 18 months from his very best, the franchise should not trade Price at any cost in 2014 and 2015.. Moore is under Team Control through the 2019 year, and when he comes back to the fold at 100% in 2015, hopefully the Rays will be vying for another postseason berth in the second half.

PED use or not, Stem Cell technology, and who knows what else has aided Colon’s body over the last 3 seasons of success. Yes he was 18 – 6, with a 2.65 ERA – finishing 6th in AL Voting, however the A’s went and paid someone else, and usually they are not wrong on guys. The 40 Year Old from Dominican Republic, is also a gigantic man who decimated his hamstring during a PFP out in 2011 with NYY. You have to think his lucky streak is numbered sooner or later – and especially on the basepaths in the NL hitting a few times a game.

Nelson Cruz is 34 – and has a long history of injuries – and now of PED use. In the last 5 years, he has only played over 128 games for the season once. Now he was on pace to top that in 2013 – before his PED suspension from the Biogenesis Scandal. I thoroughly believe he should just be a permanent DH. He will likely be used in that role with the O’s. With a full season of AB, this slugger should probably hit between .260 – .270, with 25 – 30 HRs and range from 80 – 90 RBI. To sign this guy to a 1 Year Deal – worth $8 MIL, when he was already given the Qualifying Offer by Texas is a fantastic acquisition for the Orioles. It also comes in the same week they picked up Ubaldo Jimenez and Korean chucker Suk-Min Yoon. Baltimore just entered back into the Division race!

The Orioles could not catch a break this off-season, as they lost out on free agents that they coveted as well as missing out on closer Grant Balfour , after he failed the team’s physical.

Bronson Arroyo balked at even going for a physical seeing what happened to the Aussie – opting to sign with the D-Backs even though the money was similar, rather than have his worth devalued by flunking the doctor’s visit from the O’s.

Tyler Colvin also fell victim to Baltimore’s stringent doctors, while Grady Sizemore didn’t have a chance to pass a physical with the club either despite Orioles interest.

Orioles fans all over wondered what the team’s intentions were, as many felt the team could be a serious contender with the core they have in place, but some moves needed to be made to bolster the roster.

On Monday night, the Orioles finally made a big splash in free agency that everyone anxiously awaited. The team announced they agreed to a four-year, $48 MM deal with pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez.

This is a huge move for the Orioles as an organization, as it now shows their fan base that they are willing to spend big money on key free agents.

The O’s have been linked to many of the big name free agents throughout the offseason, only to come up short when it came to signing them.

The Rays are always at the bottom for attendance in the Major Leagues, which is a shame for how successful this team has been for the last 6 years – posting 4 playoff berths and an AL Pennant. This has all been done on a shoestring budget – and facing the toughest strength of schedule in the bigs. The 2014 season will pose the same kind of challenges and problems that have arisen in the teams history. The Rays have to contend with high payroll teams like Boston and New York fielding ALL – Star squad’s throughout their lineups. The management has done a fantastic job to stay competitive, and will rely on their franchise depth to post yet another nice record for a 7th consecutive year.

Grant Balfour has recently been throwing verbal jabs to the Orioles on XM Radio concerning the club bowing out of his 2 YRs/$15 MIL deal – and justifiably so. The Orioles lost credibility around the league for this bow out maneuver. Now Balfour will look to administer some payback to the O’s 19 times a year for the 2014 and 2015 campaings. The Aussie just signed a 2 Year Deal – to return to the Rays for $12 MIL.

Opinions have varied wildly about the effect on the wholesale changes to the New York Yankees roster. This piece is in response to in response to a piece written for Grantland by Rany Jazayerli (which can be found here lower in a link icon in the 1st couple of lines.) As the Yankees Correspondent for the MLB Reports, I felt I needed to address the merits of the topic in question, make some counterparts, in order to move the dialogue from a slightly different perspective.

As always, we appreciate those sites making the information available to be able to debate the game we love. For ease to the reader, the response has been broken into two parts. This is part one of the response.

Part 2 of the Don’t Believe Everything You Read: A Response to The New Normal For the New York Yankees click here

New York Yankees 2013 Year Highlights – With Full Credit Going To The YES Network

Grant Balfour has been throwing verbal jabs to the Orioles on XM Radio concerning the club bowing out of his 2 YRs/$15 MIL deal – and justifiably so. The Orioles are losing credibility around the league for this bow out maneuver. So, good luck on signing a Free Agent Pitcher in the future. The O’s are also reeling on the Free Agency Market, having not signed anyone of real value, while Brian Roberts, Scott Feldman and Nate McLouth have left the city. 2013 saw the club win 85 games, and that was part of a superhuman effort from Chris Davis. The team is completely missing the ball in their chance to rundown a World Series Title by playing conservatively with their money.

The Orioles have continued to stumble along in the offseason – meanwhile pissing off their fanbase. The latest Grant Balfour fiasco is going to set the franchise back.

it is not just the future Free Agent players that will think twice about setting foot in Maryland for the sake of landing a deal, but this kind of move could definitely deflate attendance next campaign.

Up until the Buck Showalter era, this kind of move was vindictive of the 1999 – 2009 regime of the Baltimore brass.

Grant Balfour is a fiery Aussie, and has every right to be mad at the Baltimore Orioles. Tests have shown his arm is no different from it was a few years ago. Baltimore clearly decided at the last-minute to weasel out of the deal. The 35 Year Old has vowed revenge on Dan Duquette. I hope he signs on with the Rays or Yankees – because then they play the O’s 19 times a year. You think Balfour is fired up to enter games – wait till he is called upon in games versus Baltimore from this point forward. On a side note, with the Orioles penny-pinching their way through this winter, do not pick them to win anything in 2014. Not very smart when you a have a tepid fanbase to begin with. If the team has a shaky start, attendance and apathy will start.

It was a controversial week for the Baltimore Orioles, who had signed Grant Balfour to a 2 YR/$15.0 MIL contract – before backing out at the last second.

The O’s are tied with the Pirates and GIants for the 16th best odd to win the World Series. While I believe there is great value with the other two teams stated there, Baltimore has had a brutal off-year.

My hunch is that they are going to sign Fernando Rodney instead. Bad move fella’s. You missed the ball on this one, not only that, i think you have pissed off your faithful fans at Camden Yards.

If this club doesn’t pull off any significant player to come into the fold, the walkup crowds will be lessened.

The Baltimore Orioles signed Closer Grant Balfour to a 2 YR/ 14 Million dollar contract on Tuesday. Balfour will replace Jim Johnson, who was traded to Balfour’s previous team, the Oakland Athletics, earlier in the offseason. In an overall picture, the club almost essentially traded Jim Johnson for Jemile Weeks and Grant Balfour. The club will save $2 – $3 MIL in payroll next campaign, while they added Second Base depth, and perhaps may have the better Relief Pitcher out of the two. Better yet, Baltimore has their Closer scenario sewn up for the 2015 season now as well.

As the winter moves along, the Oriole faithful keeps asking the same question: when are the Orioles going to make a big move?

The beginning of the MLB Free Agency period has not been friendly to Orioles fans, as they saw their team trade away Jim Johnson, one of the best Closers in baseball, as well as part ways with Left Fielder Nate McLouth and Starting Pitcher Scott Feldman through free agency.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Orioles found out that rumors surrounding the team were actually truth, as it was announced that Grant Balfour signed a 2 YR/ 14 Million dollar deal, with $500,000 deferred each season.

While I believe the Dodgers will win the NL West – and also represent that league in the World Series for 2014, the odds for betting them are not there. As the favorite, you can’t make any money. The Giants (+2500), D’Backs (+3300) and Rockies (+5500) all represent great value – considering all of them have already upgraded their franchises over this winter.

Robinson Cano has seen his stock plummet down the river this winter. While he still will likely sign a deal for more than $25 MIL per year, it may have to be somewhere other than the Bronx. Meanwhile Jay – Z and his new baseball agent company is teetering with this client. The best move for that camp is to wait it out like Prince Fielder did 2 years ago. It may take for an unexpected injury – or for a team to panic after the majority of the Free Agents have signed in order for him to maximize his dollars in 6 – 7 year deal.

Luke Gregerson has authored 5 brilliant seasons coming out of the Padres Bullpen. He has a 2.78 ERA and 1.092 WHIP in his 347 IP worth of work. The 29 Year Old from Park Ridge, IL originally, has averaged appearing in 68 games a year. The A’s will use him as a late inning arm with Jim Johnson, Ryan Cook and Sean Doolittle also being capable inning’s eater to nail down shut victories. Gregerson is in his 3rd Year (made $3.2 MIL) of Arbitration before he hits the Free Agent Market in 2015.

In what can only be described as shock, I can’t believe the Padres could be this brutal in talent evaluation.

Beane has continued his pillaging from all other franchises.

The result was that he never touched any of the 9 Starting Players from his offense, zero from his Rotation, and only 2 Minor League Players from last season, to acquire 2 potential Closers/late inning relievers, a premiere CF defender, and a nice #5 Starter in return.

Billy Beane is the perfect ‘Baseball Rounder’. We all see that the moves the A’s GM made yesterday and today – where another way to gain assets in the short term – without losing much in the long run. With the A’s usually operating at around the $65 MIL mark the last few years, and now being somewhere in the $75 MIL range, look for Beane to stay active in the transactions throughout this winter to shed payroll – and to receive team controllable players. The Athletics gain 4 players in these acquisitions that all saw significant playing time in the MLB, where the outgoing guys spent the majority of (if not all) their time in the Minors last year

I said it last week in a Cards article that there were 3 teams that have perfected ‘baseball rounding’, and these teams were the Cardinals, A’s and Tampa Bay.

While the Oakland and Tampa Bay teams don’t have the wherewithal to do this as extensively as the St. Louis franchise, they have the master of the trade in Billy Beane.

“Baseball Rounding” is defined by organizations who always roundup Free Agents, Waiver Wire Deals, Rule 5 guys, or sell high when they know a player is past his projections, in order to obtain assets coming back.

The purpose of these deals is that the organization never touches the main core, meaning the franchise will be in awesome shape if you know how to groom players in your Minor League System after you draft them.

Jemile Weeks had a great 2011 campaign – hitting for a 3 Slash Line of .304/.340/.761 – with 22 SB and 50 Runs Scored in just 406 AB. He struggled in 2012, regressing to a Slash of .220/.305/.609 in 444 AB – before being subsequently replaced and then enduring a 2013 year mostly in the Minors.. With the Orioles potentially non-tendering Johnson anyway, this kind of flier just may end up working out for Baltimore in the long run if Weeks can make the squad and produce.

The Orioles completed a trade late Monday night which sends closer Jim Johnson to the Oakland Athletics for Jemile Weeks and a player to be named later.

Johnson has been one of the best closers in all of baseball, as his 101 saves over the past two seasons is the most in all of baseball.

He has been projected to make close $10 – 11 million through arbitration in 2014 – before becoming a Free Agent in 2015, so the Orioles felt it was time to part ways with the veteran right-hander.

It definitely will be a transition for Johnson, who has been with the organization since 2001. Johnson will look to fill the closer role in Oakland, as he will replace Grant Balfour, who is a free agent.

Billy Beane saw his 2013 squad reel in their 2nd straight AL West Title. The team will be hard pressed to do it again in 2014, but don’t ever count out the A’s. It has been a quiet winter thus far, with just signing Nick Punto, and exercising options on Coco Crisp and Brett Anderson. What acquisition does the MoneyBall GM have up his sleeve this time around? I don’t think he will dip into the FA Market for a big name, but certainly a guy or two that can help his ballclub.

It will all be following the money for many of the Free Agents this winter. It all started when all 14 players that had Qualifying Offers politely declined them all over the weekend, and are all FA’s with Draft Compensation due back to their 2013 club.

Victor Martinez took exception to Grant Balfour blurbing something under his breath. Martinez has been around long enough to know that this is part of the Aussie’s act, however, when you hear the verbal exchange, you get a sense that something set off V-Mart. The Tigers ended up losing the game 6 – 3, and now face elimination in Game #4 at Comerica Park tonight, with Doug Fister towing the hill against Dan Straily. The Tigers are favored at -151.

The A’s have been hanging around the top of the AL West all season long, and have been blasting their way back to the top. With players like Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, Brandon Moss and Alberto Callaspo leading the way of late, they are poised to make a run for not only the division but maybe the American league Pennant.

The Oakland Athletics have been considered contenders to win the American League West the entire season, but now that the season is coming to an end they are blasting their way to the top in an attempt to overtake the Texas Rangers.

With key players doing their job offensively, Pitchers doing their job well and keeping the team in games, and a pretty easy schedule going down the stretch they have all the components to make a stretch run.

Chuck Booth’s 218 MLB Game 30 Parks Road Trip In 2015

2015 Full Year Road Trip Stats

Trip Stats: Miles Driven (0) Miles Air (0) Total Miles (0) In Altuves () $ Spent So Far ($12202) Hot Dogs Eaten (0) Energy Drinks Consumed (0) Subs Eaten (0) Chilli's (0) # Of Days On the Road (0) Games Seen (0) Games Left (218) Days remaining (183).

Sully posts a 20 Minute Podcast daily that is the most entertaining time you will spend online! He will do a brand new show 365 days a year, unless it is a leap year, then he will do another 1! Latest Show Right Underneath In The Next Widget Down - Thursday Oct.30, 2014) - 738th Consecutive Day With An Episode!

Madbum dominated. Affeldt was terrific. Gordon nearly tied it + Chevy Guy may have been staged

Chuck Booth’s 30 MLB Parks Trip World Record Page

In 2012, Chuck Booth attended a complete game in all 30 MLB Parks in just 23 calendar days, click the image of he and Larry Lucchino to read all about it.

The MLB BallPark Pass-Port Is A Must Purchase For Those Planning To See All 30

The Ballpark Passport is quickly becoming the favorite item among Ballpark Chasers, to chronicle their life goal to see all 30 Major League Parks. You are able to receive the stamps kit for a small additional price. At around $75 all combined, it will contain one of the biggest memento's ever for a Ballpark Chaser's best bucket list wish ever#Greatgiftidea

The Sully Baseball ‘In Memoriam” Video To MLB Players Who Have Recently Passed

The Last No – Hitter For Each MLB Franchise

The Last No - Hitter For Each Franchise - Updated every time there is a new no - hitter - click picture

The Royals have released infielder Rafael Furcal, Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star reports on Twitter. Furcal was only recently brought into camp on a minor league deal and had been working through a hamstring injury. The 37-year-old saw only minimal action last year with Miami and has generally been unable to stay healthy since going down with a UCL […]

The Brewers have re-signed righty Chris Perez to a minor league deal, the club announced. Milwaukee had released Perez on Sunday. Perez, a former closer with the Indians, seemingly took some time to look around for a big league opportunity before deciding to return. At least one team, the Twins, was approached but declined the chance to add him, Darren Wolfs […]

The Dodgers have released righty Dustin McGowan, Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Additionally, the Dodgers will pay Mike Adams a $100K roster bonus by starting him off in Triple-A, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports on Twitter. McGowan had been in camp on a big league deal that guaranteed him a league minimum salary and came with a $1MM Openin […]

The Mariners have made a host of moves involving veteran non-roster invitees, per a team announcement. Seattle has released outfielders Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez along with lefty Joe Saunders, with the latter two players re-signing on new minor league deals. Chavez, 37, exercised an opt-out clause in his deal to reach the open market. He has spent t […]

The Dodgers have acquired infielder Elliot Johnson from the Rangers, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Texas will receive cash considerations in the deal. Johnson, 31, provides a shortstop-capable utility option to plug into the Los Angeles depth chart, though it is hard to imagine he will crack the active roster to start the season wi […]